Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.12 and last traded at $49.6090, with a volume of 6850409 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial raised Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.50.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.67.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $9.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 10.61%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is a boost from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.39%.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SU. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 14.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,015 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Suncor Energy by 172.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,981 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Suncor Energy by 65.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Suncor Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,653,000. Institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.